High School Blues
by Kev9885
Summary: Rinoa moves to Balamb with her mum shortly after her dad dies and meets Squall and the gang
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own any of these characters, except the ones I have created

Chapter One

Monday 11th April

310pm

Rinoa sighed as she exited the main doors of Terrence High School, pushing her glasses back up her nose as she made her way across the school grounds towards the student carpark. All around her students were running around and talking excitedly, glad that the first day of the school week was over and a few of them were now busy making plans with their friends for the upcoming weekend. Rinoa looked straight ahead as she continued walking, trying her best to block out all of the chatter around her. She didn't have anyone to talk to or plan her weekend with, not at this school anyway. She had left all of her friends behind in Deling City when her mum had decided to relocate to Terrence just over a year ago.

The reason why her mum had decided to relocate was because of the death of Rinoa's father eighteen months ago. Her dad had been a high ranking officer in the Galbadian Army, and had spent the last two years of his life as the commanding officer of Galbadia's most elite unit, the Viper Battalion. His life had been tragically cut short whilst he had been on a live fire exercise with the unit and their Dollet counterparts out on the Great Plains south of Wilburn Hill. It had happened when the youngest member of his unit, a trooper who had just past his selection course, had accidentally fired his rifle when an artillery round had landed nearby while they had been running the obstacle course, hitting her dad in the back. Medics from both units had worked frantically to save him but he had passed away before the medivac helicopters had arrived.

Rinoa had been absolutely devastated when she had found out what had happened to her dad, and had been an inconsolable mess for a couple of months after. She had loved her dad to bits, and had found it extremely hard to live without him. Luckily she had had a very good group of friends who had been extremely supportive of her through that tough time, none more so than her boyfriend Matt and her best friend Patricia.

A few months after his funeral, her mum had decided that a change of scenery would be good for the both of them, and had decided to relocate to the small town of Terrence, which was located an hour and a half's drive away from Deling City. The main reason for the decision was because she knew that with how popular she was in the singing industry that she would always be getting asked about how she was handling her husbands death and all that stuff, and didn't want Rinoa to get bothered by the media as they tried to grieve.

Not long after they had arrived, her mum had decided to give up her singing career, enrolling in an enrolled nursing course and taking a part time job as a pianist at a local bar. The reason for the career change was because she claimed that ever since her husband had died her heart hadn't been in her music, and believed that if her heart wasn't in it then why keep doing it.

Rinoa hadn't been happy about the move at first, especially since it meant that she would have to leave all of her friends, but knew of the situation her mum was facing and knew that it was going to be for the best to get away from it all where everyone didn't know who she was. She also figured that the move would give her a chance to meet new people and make new friends. Boy had she been wrong.

On her first day at Terrence High School, she had been labeled a geek and a nerd, among other things, mainly because of the fact that she wore glasses. A lot of the more popular people had gone out of their way to make her life a living hell. Even the teachers had had a go at her a few times. Rinoa had eventually found out that she was being treated that way because she wasn't a local, and that a lot of the locals had a strong hatred for outsiders, especially big city folk. Everyday at this school had been a living hell for her and she eagerly awaited for the day that she could finally leave this place behind for good.

Rinoa snapped out of her thoughts as she approached the car park, eager to get as far away from the school as she could. Her pace quickened as she made her way towards her car and was almost to her car when she felt something hard hit her on the shoulder and found herself wet from some sort of fluid.

She turned and looked down, seeing a half full bottle of coke spinning around on the ground, foam pouring out of the top of it. She looked up to see a group of popular kids pointing and laughing at her. Among them was the captain of the cheerleading team, and one of the people that had made her life a living hell, Mallory Livingstone.

"The fuck you looking at bitch?" Mallory yelled at her as she stepped forward and held her arms out in an intimidating manor.

Rinoa ignored her as she looked away and dug her car keys out of bag and unlocked her brown 1992 Nissan Pulsar Sedan, throwing her bag in the back and quickly hoped in to avoid any more crap from the popular kids.

She examined where the bottle of coke had hit her and saw that her blue v-neck was soaked and knew that it was going to stain.

'Great, yet another shirt ruined,' Rinoa thought as she shoved her keys in the ignition and started the car, not bothering to let it warm up as she put it in drive and quickly exited the carpark to avoid having anything else thrown at her.

Five minutes later she turned into the driveway of the two bedroom red brick cottage that her and her mum rented, pulling up behind her mums car before applying the handbrake and shutting the car off. She grabbed a piece of paper towel out of her glove box and dabbed at her shirt, hoping to dry it a little so it wouldn't be as noticeable to her mum, who would go absolutely mental if she found out about it.

After a few minutes she decided that it wasn't doing a thing and got out of the car and slipped her bag over her shoulders, hoping that it was enough to hide the wet patch. She made her way down the path towards the front door and stopped, adjusting her shoulder straps before grabbing the door handle and pushing the door open.

"Mum, I'm Home," Rinoa yelled out as she walked through the front door, letting it swing shut as she started making her way down the hallway.

"Hey honey, can you come into the kitchen please," her mum yelled back.

Rinoa didn't answer as she continued down the hallway, frowning at the fact that a few of the small tables that usually lined the hallway with photos and other stuff were missing.

'What the hell?' she thought as she walked into the kitchen.

She walked in to find her mum sitting at the centre counter, flicking through a magazine with a steaming hot cup of coffee sitting next to her on the bench.

"Hey mum," Rinoa said, making her mum look up from her magazine, a warm loving smile spreading across her face as she got up and crossed the room, pulling her daughter into a hug before planting a kiss on her forehead.

"Hey baby, how was your day?" her mum said as she released her.

"Same old, same old," Rinoa replied, hoping that her mum hadn't noticed the wet patch, "Hey mum, were we robbed or something, I noticed the two tables and photos were missing from the hallway?" She asked, eager to get off the topic of school.

"No honey, we weren't robbed," her mum chuckled before continuing "But I do need to tell you something, why don't you take a seat," she said, patting the seat next to her.

Rinoa obeyed and took the seat next to her mum, turning to face her as she sat down.

"So, whats up?" Rinoa asked, curious about what her mum had to tell her.

She watched as her mum looked down at the floor then back up at her, a worried look spreading across her face.

"Okay, promise you wont get mad at me," her mum said as she grabbed Rinoa's hand and gave it a light squeeze.

"I promise," Rinoa said, giving her mums hand a light squeeze back.

"Okay, I'm sorry to say this honey, but i got offered a nursing position and we have to leave Terrence," Her mum said, looking Rinoa in the eyes as she said it.

"What?" Rinoa asked, not sure whether she had heard her mum properly or if she had imagined what she had just heard.

"Were moving."

'Moving,' Rinoa thought as a smile spread across her face. She felt as if all of her worries had suddenly been lifted off her shoulders and it felt good.

"Not quite the reaction I was expecting," her mum said as she noticed the smile on her daughters face.

"Sorry, I'm just so happy to be leaving this place, " Rinoa replied as she pulled her mum into a hug, squeezing her tightly.

"But honey I thought you liked it here, and what about all of your new friends?" her mum asked.

'Oh shit,' Rinoa thought to herself. She had never told her mum how much she hated the place or that she had never made any friends at her new school, mainly because she didn't want her mum to feel guilty about it. She let out a sigh, deciding that now would probably be the best time to tell her.

"To tell you the truth mum, I didn't make any friends here, they were all to busy judging me because I'm an outsider to them, and they didn't want anything to do with me," Rinoa said, looking at the ground as a single tear rolled down her cheek, feeling too embarrassed to look at her mum.

"Oh honey, you should have told me, maybe I could've applied for a transfer sooner," her mum replied, pulling her into a hug and rubbing her back.

"Yeah I know, but at least I don't have to put up with it any more," Rinoa replied as she hugged her mum back.

"So where did you get offered your first placement?" She asked as she released her mum from the hug.

"Well I was able to choose from a multitude of positions in three countries, Zanarkand, Trabia and Balamb, and I got accepted for a position in Balamb.

"Yes!" Rinoa exclaimed excitedly, raising her arms into the air. She had always liked the look of Balamb, and had always dreamed of one day going there for a holiday, but never in her wildest dream did she ever imagine herself living there.

"Where in Balamb will we be going?" Rinoa asked excitedly, barely able to control her excitement.

"The capital, Balamb City, I've heard the place is no where near the size of Deling, but the people are apparently very friendly and welcoming" her mum replied, a smile spreading across her face as she noticed how excited her daughter was, and felt all of the worries of telling her leave her..

"That sounds great mum, so when do we leave?"

"Tomorrow night, we have to leave at five pm to be at Deling International by seven at the latest, then we fly out at ten."

"Cool, I'm going to go pack so I'm rushing around last minute in a big panic," Rinoa said as she gave her mum a quick hug before hoping off the stool and exiting the kitchen, making her way down the hallway to her bedroom.

"I've only paid for us both to have one suitcase and a carry on bag each, pack what you really want to keep and we'll throw the rest in a clothing bin. We can always go clothes shopping when we get there," Her mum yelled out behind her.

"Okay mum," Rinoa yelled back as she opened the door to her room before gently closing it. She ran over and jumped on her bed, laying spread eagled as she stared up at the ceiling with a big grin on her face.

'I cant believe that I am actually leaving this dump behind for good,' she thought to herself as she got up and walked over to her built in wardrobe, sliding one side open before reaching up into the very top and pulling down her black suitcase.

She threw it on the bed and was about to begin the long painful job of going through her clothing when she suddenly stopped, a look of horror spreading across her face.

'Oh no, I totally forgot," she thought, bringing a hand up to her mouth.

In all of the excitement about the move, she had totally forgotten about the people she would be leaving behind in Deling City, most notably Matt and Patricia. She couldn't believe that she had totally forgotten about them.

After mulling over it for a few minutes she decided to ditch packing for the time being to go ask her mum if she could make a trip to Deling tomorrow morning. She didn't want to leave without letting them know what was happening. She exited the room and made her way back into the kitchen. To find her mum still sitting at the counter reading her magazine.

"Hey mum, is it alright if I make a quick trip to Deling tomorrow to tell Matt and Patricia what's going on?"

"Yeah I guess so, just make sure your all packed and ready before you leave," her mum replied without her eyes leaving her magazine.

"Thanks mum," Rinoa yelled out as she ran back down the hallway into her room, heading straight for her wardrobe as she began the long painstaking task of going through what she wanted to keep and what she would get rid off.

'Black spaghetti strap top...keep, old black t-shirt...gone,' she thought as she went through her cupboard, throwing every item of clothing into two separate piles on the floor.

After going through all of her clothing and placing the stuff she was keeping into her big black suitcase, she grabbed a couple of large garbage bags from the kitchen and proceeded to throw the rest of her clothing into them before tying the bags up and placing them next to her suitcase.

She looked around the room again, making sure she hadn't left anything behind that she had wanted to keep. Satisfied that she had everything, she picked up her backpack and slung it over her shoulder before grabbing her suitcase and the two garbage bags and exited the room, dragging them down the hallway before placing them by the front door.

Feeling quite drained from all of the packing she had done, Rinoa decided that anything else that needed to be done could wait till tomorrow and made her way into the lounge room, grabbing the remote before plonking herself onto the couch. She continuously flicked through the channels, unable to find anything that really sparked her interest. She finally decided to watch a program about the world biggest man made structures, it wasn't very interesting, just some old guy droning on an on about all these buildings, but at least it was something to kill time with.

After about ten minutes of being bored out of her brain and nearly falling to sleep, her mum came into the room and sat on the single seater.

"All packed sweetheart?" her mum asked as she grabbed the remote off the couch and started flicking through the channels.

"Yep," Rinoa replied, not bothering to look at her mum as she watched the channels change, glad that she at least wouldn't have to listen to the boring old man anymore.

"Good girl, now what furniture is left in the house is getting picked up by the removal company tomorrow morning, so don't be shocked when you come back to an empty house" her mum informed her as she settled on a soap opera that had just started, which Rinoa didn't actually mind watching from time to time.

"Okay, thanks for letting me know."

They sat watching TV for a few hours before her mum had decided to order pizza for tea. As she ate her tea, questions started swirling around in her head about Balamb. What was it actually like? What are the kids like? She also thought about what she had to do tomorrow and it made her feel quite nervous. She already knew how they were going to react, they weren't going to like it, but she had no choice and was sure that they would understand once she explained the situation to them.

Deciding that she shouldn't worry about it until tomorrow, she finished her tea before grabbing the empty pizza box and taking it into the kitchen, placing it on the kitchen bench. She then made her way into her room, grabbing her pyjamas off of her drawers and quickly got changed into her white singlet and satin boxer shorts.

She climbed into bed, pulling her blankets up around her chin before rolling onto her side and snuggling into her pillow. Much to her surprise she felt her eyes get heavy as her head hit the pillow, even with all the thoughts swirling around in her head. Pushing those thoughts out of her mind, she closed her eyes and within a few minutes she had drifted off to sleep.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I do not own any of these characters, except for the ones I have created.

**Chapter Two**

Tuesday 12th April

630am

Rinoa cracked an eye open and groaned as her alarm blared loudly throughout her room. She lazily reached over and slammed her hand down on the off button before snuggling back into her pillow, not wanting to get up at this ungodly hour. She wasn't known as a morning person and hated getting up this early but knew that if she wanted to catch up with her friends before school started she would have to.

Yawning loudly she threw her blankets off before swinging her legs over the side of her bed, slowly getting to her feet. She slowly made her way out of her room and down the hall to the bathroom. She closed the door and turned the taps on, waiting until the water temperature was just the way she liked it before stripping off and hoping in.

She stood under the hot jets of water and closed her eyes, enjoying the feeling of the hot water flowing all over her body. After standing under the jets for a few minutes she washed her hair and her body and got out, quickly drying herself before tying her hair up into a ponytail. Wrapping the towel around herself she exited the bathroom and made her way back to her room.

She rummaged through her suitcase, having totally forgot to leave something out for her to wear today in all the excitement and worry. She pulled out a pair of blue denim jeans and a black skivvy, along with a pair of black undies and matching bra. She quickly got dressed and closed her suitcase before making her way over to her vanity and opening the top drawer, pulling out a tube of lip balm and some eyeliner. Rinoa wasn't of these girls that caked herself in makeup before going anywhere, and therefore owned very little of the stuff. All she ever usually used when she went out was some lip balm, eyeliner and maybe a little mascara from time to time.

After carefully applying her makeup she went through her suitcase again, pulling out a pair of white ankle socks and her black converse all-stars. She quickly put them on before looking at herself in the mirror. Deciding that she looked okay in what she was wearing, she grabbed her wallet, mobile phone and car keys off of the bedside table before exiting the room.

Rinoa made her way into the kitchen and went straight to the freezer, pulling out a box of ham and cheese pizza pockets. Taking two out, she grabbed some paper towel and placed them in the microwave before closing the door and entering the specified time stated on the box.

She watched as the pastry snacks spun around in the microwave as she waited for them to cook. As she waited she went over in her mind what she had to do today, and felt the butterflies in her stomach once again. She didn't want to do this, and had even considered telling them after she had moved just so she wouldn't have to do it now, but knew that it wouldn't be a very good decision. She knew they would be upset about it, hell she would be, and knew that if it was one of her friends that was moving and they didn't tell her until afterwards that she would be pissed about it.

The dinging sound of the microwave signalling that her food was done snapped her out of her thoughts. She grabbed the paper towel by the edges and lifted the pizza pockets out of the microwave and placed them on the bench. After letting them cool down for a few minutes she wrapped them up in the paper towel and exited the room, making her way to the front door.

A cool breeze whipped past her as she walked across the front lawn towards her car, making her glad that she had chosen to wear something semi warm. She hoped in and started the engine, taking a bite from one of her pizza pockets as she waited for the car to warm up, something she had always been told to do before she drove anywhere.

As she shoved the last of her breakfast into her mouth she looked down at the temperature gauge, noticing that the needle had risen a little bit. Deciding that the car had warmed up enough Rinoa put it in reverse and carefully backed out of the driveway, careful not to hit anyone who may have been out for a morning walk. After safely making it out onto the street she put the car in drive and took off down the road.

* * *

Rinoa yawned loudly as she turned off the motorway, making her way through Deling City's towards her old school. St Augustine College was Deling City's most prestige's school, catering for the students of doctors, lawyers, politicians and the like. It took up nearly an entire suburban block and boasted some of the best sporting and recreational facilities in the city.

Rinoa sighed as she turned into the carpark, looking at her watch as she parked her car near the entrance of the school, seeing that it was only eight-fifteen. This meant that she still had time to catch up with Patricia and Matt before classes started for the day.

She got out of her car and weaved her way past all the students mingling at the front of the school as she made her way to the main entrance. Memories of the years she had spent wandering these halls came flooding back to her as she opened the door, and she had to fight back tears to stop herself from crying.

Quickly composing herself so no one could see her cry, she made her way down the main hallway past, slowly making her way past all of the students getting their books out of their lockers for the morning lessons.

She turned left into another hallway heading to where the senior lockers were, keeping a lookout for either Patricia or Matt as she went. She suddenly heard a loud scream coming down the hallway behind her and smiled, knowing exactly who it was without having to look. The person coming down the hallway towards her was none other then her best friend in the whole world, Patricia.

Patricia was one of the most beautiful girls Rinoa had ever met. She had green eyes that sparkled whenever the light hit them, and shoulder length blonde hair that always seemed to have different coloured streaks through it, this week it was green. Her skin was a beautiful tanned colour, which made her look even more beautiful, and she had full pouting lips, which Rinoa had always been a little jealous of.

Patricia was tall enough to be a model, and always showed off her long legs by wearing mini-skirts and short shorts. Patricia was gorgeous and she knew it, quite often using her looks and hot body to get what she wanted, when she wanted. It was common knowledge at her school that the majority of the guys in her year level wanted to get Patricia in the sack, and it was with great displeasure that Rinoa could announce that pretty much every one of them had. She had even heard that a couple of their teachers had gone there, just so Patricia could get a pass on her assignments.

Rinoa only wished that one day Patricia would see what sort of an image she was giving herself whenever she slept with a new guy. Despite all of that, she was able to overlook all of those things, mainly because she had known Patricia since year one and they had been pretty much inseparable since.

Rinoa turned around and was nearly knocked to the ground as Patricia embraced her, pulling her into a tight hug.

"OH MY GOD! Rinoa what are you doing here?" Patricia asked, pretty much screeching in her ear, making Rinoa shudder as the sound pierced her eardrum.

"Hey, I just thought I'd come see you that's all," Rinoa lied, not wanting to tell her the news straight away.

Unfortunately for her she was a very bad liar and Patricia had always known when something was wrong and this time was most likely going to be one of those times.

"There's something wrong isn't there?" Patricia asked as she pulled away from Rinoa, a worried look on her face.

'Damn how can she tell,' Rinoa thought as she felt a couple of tears roll down her cheek and she choked up, grabbing onto Patricia for comfort.

"Aw honey, do you want to talk about it?" Patricia asked as she patted her back.

"Yeah, but not here" Rinoa whispered, "Can we go to the old cafe we used to hang out at every afternoon?"

"Yeah, do you want me to text Matt and tell him to meet us down there during his study block after first period?" Patricia asked as they started making there way towards the exit.

"Yes, that would be great," Rinoa replied, putting an arm around Patricia as they made their way down the now nearly deserted hall, pulling the main door open as they headed for Rinoa's car.

* * *

"Your leaving Terrence?" Patricia asked as she took a sip on her milkshake.

They sat at a table outside Joey's, the cafe that they used to always hang out at of an afternoon after school. Rinoa had waited until they were at the cafe before dropping the news of her moving away onto her best friend.

To her surprise she had taken the news a lot better then she thought she would. She had expected to go absolutely mental about her moving further away but she had sat quietly and listened until Rinoa had finished talking.

"Yeah, that's probably the only good thing about it," Rinoa replied as she took a sip from her own milkshake.

"I agree, that place is an absolute hole, I'm surprised you were there for as long as you were," Patricia said, letting out a small chuckle.

"You know you've taken the news better then I thought you would, I thought you were gonna go absolutely mental about it."

"Well I was at first but as you explained your situation to me I had a think about it and it's not like it's going to be much different to the way things are now, You'll just be further away and we won't be able to see you as much. It does hurt to know you are moving away but at least we've had practice with the long distance friendship thing and we know that it works," Patricia said as she placed a hand on Rinoa's shoulder.

"Thanks Tish, you know your the best friend in the whole world don't you," Rinoa said as she pulled Patricia into a hug.

"Same, and nothing is gonna change that," Patricia replied she returned the hug.

"So how do you think Matt will take the news?" Rinoa asked.

"You'll find out in a minute," Patricia said as she looked down the road.

Rinoa turned around in her seat and saw Matt standing at the crossing on the other side of the road waiting for the lights to change and Rinoa felt her stomach start to do summersaults again.

Matt was the kind of guy that almost every girl dreamed of dating, he was just above average height, fairly muscly and his skin was a beautiful light brown colour.

He had medium length wavey brown hair which was always full of various hair products and spiked up in many different ways. He also had deep blue eyes that you could get lost in just by gazing at them.

Not only was he considered one of the more attractive guys at St Augustine's, he was also the star quarterback for the senior football team, which had given Rinoa instant popularity with the jocks and cheerleaders when she had attended the school

Seeing him walking towards her made her heart ache and made her not want to tell him she was moving but knew she had to.

She jumped up out of her seat and ran towards him, flying into his open arms and kissing him passionately.

"Hey babe, I missed you so much," Matt said as he hugged her tightly.

"I missed you to babe," Rinoa said as she pulled away and led him back to the table.

"So," Matt said as he sat down and turned to face her, "Tish texted me saying you had something you wanted to talk to me about."

Rinoa took a deep breath before telling him what was going on, which he too took surprisingly well. They spent the rest of the morning hanging out and discussing what they were going to do. They decided to stick with the long distance relationship, bot agreeing that it wouldn't be that different to what they had going now, she would just be further away and they wouldn't be able to see each other as often as they could now.

Before they knew it had reached midday, and Matt and Patricia decided to head back to school so they could attend at least some classes today.

Rinoa dropped them back at school before making her way back to Terrence so she could get ready to leave tonight, knowing that she had done what she had set out to do today and that things were still all good between her and the people she cared for.

* * *

Rinoa looked at the house one last time as her mum backed out of the driveway before putting it in drive and driving away from the house, going past her car which was in the process of being put on the back of a tow truck.

Her and her mum had both agreed that they couldn't take it with them so they had called the local car wreckers who had given her two hundred for it. Rinoa didn't really care she was just happy for it to be taken care of. Her mum was going to be buying her another one when they got to Balamb anyway.

As they drove through the town she came to realize how much of a dump the place really was. She had known it was a shit hole but she had heard somewhere that you don't really see a towns true character until your leaving. In this case it was so true.

They finally reached the far side of Terrence and turned onto the highway, heading towards Deling City.

'Goodbye Terrence, and good riddance,' Rinoa thought as she looked back at the town one last time before turning back around in her seat, all ready to start a new life in Balamb.


End file.
